Protective cover for a comforter

ABSTRACT

A protective cover for a comforter has a bottom face and a top face which form a flexible woven fabric envelope. The cover is formed from a single-piece envelope including an edge which is at least partly closed in a permanent manner and three edges having fast opening and closing devices allowing the two faces of the envelope to be partly separated in order for the comforter to be placed on one of the faces of the envelope, so that the comforter is covered by the other face and at least two edges of the faces are joined with the aid of the fast opening and closing devices.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a 371 of PCT/FR2003/001356, filed on Apr. 30, 2003.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention concerns a protective cover for a comforter comprising abottom face and a top face, which form a flexible woven fabric envelope.

2. Description of the Related Art

Many covers as defined above are known in the state of the art. It iscommon practice to use comforter covers to keep comforters clean. Bychanging the cover, users can change the outer appearance such as thefabric, pattern, and color of a comforter as desired. To date, suchcovers have been in the form of a parallelepiped-shaped fabric sack withone open side through which the comforter is inserted. This open sidecan in some cases be closed by means of buttons, snaps, or other closuredevices.

Problems are often encountered when attempting to insert the comforterinto these types of covers. At present, to place the comforter in itscover, the user must insert it through one relatively narrow end and tryto match up the corners of the cover to achieve as flat a surface aspossible. This technique is time-consuming and frustrating because it isvery difficult to position the comforter correctly. The problem is evengreater for larger comforters.

Various solutions have been proposed to solve this problem. One solutionis to create a central opening in the top face of the cover, asillustrated in particular in patent FR-A-2,799,358 as well as patentsGB-A-2,303,062 and DE-A-2,829,873. In this type of cover, certaincorners of the cover are still difficult to reach, so the user stillwastes time attempting to position at least part of the corners of thecomforter so that they match up with the corners of the cover. Thisoperation also requires physical effort on the part of the user.

Another solution consists of making a comforter cover in the form ofindividual parts, one of which forms a top, and which can be fastenedtogether and separated. This solution is illustrated in particular indocument FR-A-2,649,877. In this case, the user wastes time positioningand matching up the top and bottom pieces. If snaps are used, the edgesbecome pleated, especially the longitudinal edges, which results in anunattractive appearance. If zippers are used, the zippers must bematched up each time on all four sides to close the cover completely.Moreover, this type of comforter cover takes up more space when stored.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, one object of this invention is to provide a comforter cover thatis easy to put on, since the top and bottom faces of this comfortercover are designed to be partially separated and fastened togethereasily and quickly, without being bulky.

Another object of this invention is to provide a comforter cover whoseappearance is identical to a traditional cover.

Another object of this invention is to provide a comforter coverdesigned to be reversible.

For this purpose, the invention concerns a protective cover for acomforter. Particular methods for creating the invention are describedherein.

The design of this comforter cover, in the form of a single-pieceenvelope whose top and bottom faces can be partially separated to allowfor easy positioning of the comforter without requiring total separationof the faces, facilitates the insertion of a comforter without physicaleffort for the user.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention will be better understood upon reading the followingdescription and examples made with reference to the accompanyingdrawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 represents a top view of a comforter cover in accordance with theinvention, with the two faces comprising the envelope of the coverseparated;

FIG. 2 represents a partial schematic bottom view of the bottom face ofthe comforter cover with the two faces fastened together; and

FIG. 3 represent a bottom view of the bottom face of the comfortercover, with the faces separated.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

As mentioned above, the protective comforter cover 1 comprises a bottomface 1A and a top face 1B made of flexible fabric so as to form anenvelope essentially rectangular or square in shape. This envelope ischaracterized by the fact that it is in the form of a single-pieceenvelope comprising a permanently closed edge 2A and three edges 2B, 2C,2D provided with fast opening and closing devices that allow for partialseparation of the two faces 1A, 1B of the envelope such that in theseparated state, faces 1A and 1B are an extension of one another asillustrated in FIG. 1. With the cover in this position, the comforter issimply placed on one of the faces, in this case, the bottom face 1A ofthe cover, then other face is brought up to cover the comforter, in thiscase the top face 1B of the envelope, and finally the edges 2B, 2C, 2Dof the envelope are at least partially closed. In the examples shown,the permanently closed edge of the cover 1 comprises the head edge 2A ofthe cover 1. Each face 1A, 1B of the cover 1 is provided on its footedge 2C, opposite head edge 2A of the cover 1, with a flap 4 that can befolded under the mattress to secure the comforter cover and comforter inplace. This flap 4 also constitutes at least a partial fast opening andclosing device for edge 2C of cover 1. Top face 1B of the cover is alsoprovided, in two of its corners bordering edge 2C on the foot side ofthe face 1B, with a pocket 5B essentially triangular in shape, whichpocket forms a flap to contain the corner bordering edge 2C on the footedge of bottom face 1A of the cover of the faces 1A, 1B. Thus, flap 4and pocket 5B constitute the fast opening and closing devices for theedge 2C on the foot side of the cover.

In the examples shown, the cover 1 is reversible. Therefore, each face1A, 1B of the cover is provided in its two corners bordering the footedge 2C of cover 1 with a respective pocket 5A, 5B, generally triangularin shape, whose role is to constitute an at least partial fast openingand closing device for the foot edge 2C of the cover of faces 1A, 1B.When faces 1A, 1B of the cover are made of different fabric, each pocket5A, 5B, attached to one face 1A, 1B of the cover 1, is made of thematerial constituting the other face of the cover 1. As illustrated inthe figures, each pocket 5A, 5B is constituted of a triangular pieceadded to one face 1A, 1B of the cover 1. One of the edges of the pieceis attached to foot edge 2C of the top face or respectively the bottomface, and is attached to the inner wall of this face of the cover. Theother edge of the piece is attached to side edge 2B, 2D of the face andis inserted between the fast opening and closing device 3 and the innerwall of the face so as not to interfere with the operation of the fastopening and closing device 3. In the examples shown, side edges 2B, 2Dof the cover 1 connecting the head edge 2A and the foot edge 2B of thecover are provided with a zipper 3 concealed by at least one flapoverlapping onto the top face of the envelope when the faces 1A, 1B arein the assembled position. In the case of a reversible comforter cover,the element of the zipper on bottom face 1A of the envelope is alsopositioned on a flap of the bottom face, with this flap being intendedto conceal closing device 3.

For this purpose, the top face or respectively the bottom face of theenvelope are provided with a fold or a flap to which the zipper isattached. Thus each zipper is sewn to a flap of edge 2B, 2D of one ofthe faces of the envelope. The fastening stitching is preferably locatedin the immediate vicinity of the fold line of the flap to allow the flapof the face in question to conceal the entire zipper. The flap may alsobe provided with a snag guard (not shown). This snag guard is designedto prevent the comforter from getting caught in the zipper when thezipper is closed.

Finally, as illustrated in FIG. 3, one of the faces, in this case thebottom face 1A of the cover, can be provided on the inside, in two ofits corners bordering the foot edge 2C of the cover, with an additionalpocket 6, generally triangular in shape, into which the foot edge of thecomforter is inserted before the edges 2B, 2C, 2D of the cover arejoined. This pocket 6 is an additional triangular piece positioned onthe inner side of a face. This piece is attached by one of its edges toa side edge 2B or 2D of one face, this edge being covered by the zipper,while another edge of the piece is attached to the foot edge 2C of thecover. The tip of the piece matches up with the tip of the angle formedby edges 2B and 2C or respectively 2B and 2D. This pocket 6 is generallylarger in size than pockets 5A or 5B and extends between pocket 5A or 5Aand face 1A or 1B as shown in FIG. 3.

Finally, the top face or respectively the bottom face of the cover maybe provided on the inside in a predetermined location with aself-gripping closing device (not shown). This closing device ispositioned to work with an additional closing device positioned on thecomforter.

This comforter cover works as follows: the zippers 3 are opened andfaces 1A and 1B of the comforter cover are thus separated to extend outinto a position in accordance with FIG. 1. Bottom face 1A of thecomforter cover is positioned on the bed. The comforter is thenpositioned flat on the face. When the additional triangular pockets 6are present, the corners of the comforter may be inserted into thepockets to help hold the comforter in place on the face 1A. Face 1B isthen brought up to cover the comforter such that the face extendsparallel to face 1A. Triangular pockets 5B on face 1B of the comfortercover are then folded back to extend over the outer side of face 1B. Thezippers 3 may be closed until they reach the vicinity of edge 2C thenthe triangular pockets 5B are folded back so as to be positioned on theouter side of face 1A as illustrated in FIG. 2. Thus, the corners ofbottom face 1A of the comforter are inserted into this pocket 5B, whichconstitutes a fast opening and closing device for the edge 2C of thecover. When the triangular pockets 5A are also present on bottom face 1Aof the envelope, these pockets 5A are also, before the zippers 3 areclosed, folded back to extend over the outer side of the top face 1A.They will thus be covered by the pockets 5B so as to be entirelyconcealed. The flaps 4 are then positioned under the mattress so as toensure closure of the central area of the edge 2C of the cover. If thecomforter cover is reversible, faces 1A, 1B constitute in turn a topface or a bottom face. For this purpose, each face is provided withtriangular pockets 5A, 5B in these corners bordering the foot edge 2C ofthe cover. Thus, when face 1B becomes the bottom face of the comforter,pockets 5A house the corners of face 1B bordering the foot edge 2C ofthe cover. These pockets 5A cover, on the outer side of face 1B, pockets5B that have been folded back previously. This is why pockets 5A,attached to face 1A of the cover, are made of a material matching thematerial used on face 1B of the cover, and likewise, pockets 5B,attached to face 1B of the cover, are made of the a material matchingthe material used on face 1A of the cover. These pockets 5A, 5B thusensure continuity in the pattern of the face that they cover when thefaces are fastened together. Thus, flaps 4 and pockets 5A or 5Bconstitute the fast opening and closing devices for edge 2C of thecover. This cover thus presents the appearance of a cover in accordancewith the state of the art, while its design makes it possible to readilyinsert the comforter into the cover.

1. A protective cover (1) for a comforter, comprising: a bottom face(1A); a top face (1B); wherein the bottom face (1A) and the top face(1B) form a flexible, woven fabric envelope as a single-piece envelopeincluding: a permanently closed edge (2A) which is at least partlyclosed in a permanent manner; and three edges (2B, 2C, 2D), including anopenable foot edge (2C) and side edges (2B, 2D), which are provided withfast opening and closing means (3, 4, 5A, 5B), with the fast opening andclosing means (3, 4, 5A, 5B) including a zipper (3), a flap (4), andtriangular pockets (5A, 5B), allowing the two faces (1A, 1B) of theenvelope to be partly separated in order for the comforter to be placedon one face (1A) of the faces (1A, 1B) of the envelope, whereupon thecomforter is covered by the other face (1B) and the three edges (2B, 2C,2D) of the faces (1A, 1B) are joined by the fast opening and closingmeans (3, 4, 5A, 5B); wherein the top face (1B) of the cover (1) isprovided, in two of its corners bordering the openable foot edge (2C) ofthe top face (1B), with the triangular pocket (5B), with the triangularpocket (5B) forming a flap to contain the corner bordering the openablefoot edge (2C) of bottom face (1A) of the cover, and the fast openingand closing means (3, 4, 5A, 5B) providing at least partial closure ofthe openable foot edge (2C) of the faces (1A, 1B) of the cover (1). 2.The protective cover (1) for a comforter according to claim 1, whereineach face (1A, 1B) of the cover (1) is provided on its openable footedge (2C) of the cover (1) with the flap (4) that can be folded under amattress to secure the cover (1) and the comforter in place.
 3. Theprotective cover (1) for a comforter according to claim 2, wherein thecover (1) is reversible, with each face (1A, 1B) of the cover beingprovided in its two corners bordering the openable foot edge (2C) of thecover (1) with the triangular pockets (5A, 5B).
 4. The protective cover(1) for a comforter according to claim 1, wherein each of the triangularpockets (5A, 5B) attached to a respective face (1A, 1B) of the cover (1)is made of the material constituting the other face of the cover (1). 5.The protective cover (1) for a comforter according to claim 1, whereineach triangular pocket (5A, 5B) includes a triangular piece attached toa respective face (1A, 1B) of the cover (1), with one of the edges ofthe triangular piece being attached to the openable foot edge (2C) ofthe respective face (1A, 1B) of the cover (1), the other edge of thepiece being attached to the side edges (2B, 2D) of the face and insertedbetween the fast opening and closing means (3) and the wall of the faceso as not to interfere with the operation of the fast opening andclosing means (3).
 6. The protective cover (1) for a comforter accordingto claim 1, wherein the permanently closed edge (2A) of the cover (1)includes the head edge of the cover (1).
 7. The protective cover (1) fora comforter according to claim 1, wherein the side edges (2B, 2D) of thecover (1) connecting the permanently closed edge (2A) and the openablefoot edge (2C) of the cover (1) are provided with the zipper (3)concealed by at least one flap overlapping onto the top face of theenvelope when the faces (1A, 1B) are in the assembled position.
 8. Theprotective cover (1) for a comforter according to claim 1, wherein oneof the faces (1A, 1B) of the cover (1) is provided on the inner side, intwo of its corners bordering the openable foot edge (2C) of the cover(1), with an additional triangular pocket into which the openable footedge (2C) of the comforter is inserted.
 9. The protective cover (1) fora comforter according to claim 1, wherein at least one of the top face(1B) or the bottom face (1A) of the cover (1) is provided on the insidein a predetermined location with a self-gripping closing device, withthe self-gripping closing device being positioned to work with a secondclosing device positioned on the comforter.